Old Scores

Chris Norgren Mystery

ISBN: 0-7887-0166-5 Order from: Recorded Books Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com

A straightforward murder mystery with lightly sketched but colorful characters, likable but not very complex protagonist, and a nice background of the art market.

Reviewed by David on February 21, 2005

Genre: Mystery (Amateur Sleuth, Art)

Synopsis: The mild-mannered curator of the Seattle Art Museum Chris Norgren is sent by the museum's director to France. A valuable painting is about to be donated by a wealthy dealer. Unfortunately, the donation comes with many restrictions, and the attribution of the painting is in question as well. Chris's job is to determine if the gift is worth accepting—but the donor's penchant for practical jokes rapidly becomes secondary as the rivalries in the Franch art world explode into murder.

Full Review: The French (and by extension global) art world, with murky attributions, complex questions of ownership and provenance and famous mistakes and fakes make for an interesting background. The questions are interesting, if a bit oversimplified, as are the colorful characters representing them.

A classic murder puzzle is explored in realtively simple way. The main character is mildly sympathetic, but almost too pedestrian to make a decent investigative viewpoint.

On the whole, the book makes for a pleasant, sometimes humorous, and not overly memorable diversion.

Overall: 6; Plot: 6; Characters: 6; Style: 6; World-building: 6; Originality: 5;

ISBN: 0-7887-0166-5 Order from: Recorded Books Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com